Combining the technical attributes of reddit, digg, newsvine, and del.icio.us, Balatarin is a mission-oriented platform dedicated to enabling and fostering freedom of expression and information for the benefit of Iranian society.

The program was launched on April 5, 2011, with a live recital by the highly acclaimed Iranian soprano, Darya Dadvar.

More than 3,000 Balatarin users received the program with a warm applause, with just over 1,000 from Iran and about 2,000 from the US, Canada, Germany, UK, Sweden, The Netherlands, Malaysia, and the UAE.

Dadvar delighted her audience with music exclusively tuned to the occasion and took questions from her Balatarin fans after the concert.

In an age where digital media are key to information collection, communication and organization, another series helps users learn how to ensure Internet security.

The Debates series featured both experts and lay people and focused on the pros and cons of voting in the 2013 presidential elections; whether the cinematographer Mohsen Makhmalbaf should travel to Israel in July 2013 to attend the Jerusalem International Film Festival; nonviolence, and other topics of interest.

The broadcasts may also be downloaded for future viewing; transcripts, audio files and English summaries of select programs are made available to make the content as accessible as possible.

On February 1, 2007, only 6 months after Balatarin was launched, the Iranian Ministry of Information and Communication Technology blocked access to the website.

[7] Balatarin is the subject of daily tirades by the state-run newspaper, Kayhan, which accuses the website and its management of being an instrument of foreign, anti-Islamic agencies, the same accusations that it levels at Facebook and Twitter.,[8][9] Before the 2013 Iranian presidential election, the cultural deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was quoted as saying "Four years ago, we didn't know how to combat Facebook, Twitter, Balatarin and BBC, but now we are prepared and know how to deal with them.

[15] Based on Wakoopa, which tracks the usage of different websites through its community of members, Balatarin is the 31st most popular social network on the web in all languages.

Balatarin announced moderators ("Balayars," a newly coined term) on April 1, 2007, after a three-week probation period.

[19] The moderators' responsibilities include preventing and reacting to vandalism, cheating (e.g., possessing multiple IDs), and copyright infringement.

Balatarin's moderation rules have been controversial and raised tension in some areas, for instance, when links were removed or when users were banned.

This led to user complaints; some threatened to quit, alleging Balatarin violated its promise to function as a democratic website.